1914 Mercedes Triple Victory GP-France

It was the last Grand-Prix in Lyon on the 4th of July 1914, before the first world war started on the 1st of August. It was a show of strength between the French manufacturers and Daimler. It ended in a triple victory for
Daimler with the Mercedes GPs driven by Christian Lautenschlager, Louis Wagner and Otto Salzer, by the way, this was the first triple since the founding of Grand-Prix racing in 1906.

Max Sailer, the fourth Mercedes driver, led from the start with a fastest lap time average of 112 km/h, however, due to engine damage, he had to retire on the sixth lap. At that time, each car carried the driver and a
passenger. The latter were not mentioned in the rankings.

The fifth car was driven by Theodore Pilette, the Belgian Mercedes importer. He retired on the fourth lap, also with engine damage. A good natured 4,5 litres of capacity but coupled with a sluggish operation, had to be
managed. Only Peugeot, Delage and Fiat already had four-wheel braking. The limiting of the cubic capacity to 4,5 litres ended the era of the enormous capacities of over 20 litres.

Despite the first world war having started, the car continued its career in the United States, who only took part in the war in 1917. There it gathered numerous racing victories. Perhaps the most important one, was
winning the 1915 Indianapolis 500. Also after the war it continued its career in this manner until 1922. 08/14